While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a…

While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a good reason for South Asians to convert, it reflected less the value of Islam than the deficits of Hinduism, specifically caste prejudice and the proscription of widow remarriage. Reverend John Takle – a New Zealander working as a missionary in Bengal – used the most recent ‘scientific’ evidence that tracked intermarriage between Muslim and native races to supposedly prove a long-standing conclusion. In 1911 he stated, ‘The anthropometric survey made by government proves conclusively that the vast majority of the Mohammedans in India are converts from among the depressed Hindu communities.‘

Evidence

Reverend John Takle – a New Zealander working as a missionary in Bengal – used the most recent “scientific” evidence that tracked intermarriage between Muslim and native races to supposedly prove a long-standing conclusion. In 1911 he stated, “The anthropometric survey made by government proves conclusively that the vast majority of the Mohammedans in India are converts from among the depressed Hindu communities.” — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 89 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

While these Americans and Britons avoided any suggestion that someone, drawn by a positive characteristic of the religion, might willingly accept Islam, others argued that, if there had been a good reason for South Asians to convert, it reflected less the value of Islam than the deficits of Hinduism, specifically caste prejudice and the proscription of widow remarriage. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 89 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Ambedkar resolved to abandon Hinduism to escape the stigma of untouchability.; Although Britons in India differed from Americans because of the active (if exaggerated) threat to their political order, both shared a conviction regarding two alleged qualities of Islam that made it a perennial menace: the proclivity of Muslims to spread their religion and to do so violently. In their reflections on the proselytizing power of Muslims – an issue among Europeans since at least the eighth century when predominantly Christian north Africa and Spain converted almost entirely to Islam – Americans and Britons almost universally explained mass conversion as the result of coercion.; Colonial observers attributed conversions to Hindu deficiencies rather than Islam’s appeal. — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear:…, 89 (+5 more)

Related

• Colonial observers attributed conversions to Hindu deficiencies rather than Islam’s appeal. (similarity 0.93)
• Anthropometric surveys were weaponized to prove converts came from lower Hindu castes. (similarity 0.90)
• Colonial demography fueled fears that Islam would eclipse Hinduism in Bengal. (similarity 0.88)
• Missionaries converted mostly the castes Muslims supposedly seized (similarity 0.87)
• Missionaries misused racial science to explain Indian Muslim conversion (similarity 0.86)
• Missionaries used phrenology to frame Indian Muslims as lower-caste converts (similarity 0.84)
• Christian missionaries in India tended to have the most success among the very groups they alleged Muslims to have converted the lowest ranking castes and most impoverished classes. (similarity 0.84)
• Britons defined their own superiority as the middle ground between Hindu and Muslim extremes (similarity 0.82)
• Britons in India, unlike Americans, faced an active (if exaggerated) Muslim threat to their political order, yet both shared convictions regarding Islam’s coercive proselytizing and violent spread. (similarity 0.82)
• Although Britons in India differed from Americans because of the active (if exaggerated) threat to their political order, both shared a conviction regarding two alleged qualities of Islam that… (similarity 0.81)
• Caste explains Hindu neglect that risks aborigines converting to rival faiths. (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• Anthropometric surveys were weaponized to prove converts came from lower Hindu castes. #exemplifies (0.95) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 89
• Colonial observers attributed conversions to Hindu deficiencies rather than Islam’s appeal. #exemplifies (0.90) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 89
• Although Britons in India differed from Americans because of the active (if exaggerated) threat to their political order, both shared a conviction regarding two alleged qualities of Islam that… #corroborates (0.80)
• Colonial demography fueled fears that Islam would eclipse Hinduism in Bengal. #complicates (0.60) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 94